ANC at the cusp of doom or dawn

With just over a week before the ANC’s national elective conference starts, it’s important for South Africa to consider the outcome of this important gathering.

As it’s an electoral conference where policies will be adopted that have a direct impact on all South Africans and leaders will be elected, some of whom will be the leaders in government for all of us, it would be unwise for South Africans to ignore this conference. I contend that there are two possible outcomes for the conference.

A road to new hope or a road to a political catastrophe, depending on who wins. Few people have the time to sit down and contemplate the fact that the country could easily be thrown straight into a political catastrophe by the electoral outcome that might emerge from Nasrec. There is a real danger that the country could be run by a mafia-style gang of political anarchists.

The same corruption lords who have been mercilessly raiding the national fiscus are likely to be elected into the ANC’s second highest decision-making structure after the conference, the national executive committee. Nobody can stop it but the electorate, who will vent their anger in 2019.

There is no immediate hope of stopping the approaching destructive twister. From my observations, unity prior to the conference is unlikely as both sides are determined to dominate and monopolise power. Each side has a slate clearly based on long-standing divisions and even tribalism.

On each list, the top six office-bearer positions go solely to those who are loyal to the proposed top leader. The indications are that the powerful side will ensure that nobody from the other camp gets to the top. But the nation has to be concerned when the process could lead to political disaster for the country – and that disaster is on the way.

The fact that a member of the so-called premier league is on the verge of being promoted to the national level via the conference should be a cause for concern for all of us. There is no doubt that if the campaign to elect someone likely to keep the status quo succeeds, it will be paradise for the league.

Although what is clearly a two-horse race is neck-and-neck at this stage, anything could happen at Nasrec.

We are facing the possibility that the conference will legitimise the plundering of public resources on a national scale by a gang of looters using their newly-acquired political authority from the Luthuli power-house. From the party headquarters and later at Union Buildings, they will rubberstamp policies that allow looting of public resources with impunity.

The fact that all the known looters from the provincial and national structures are supporting a particular candidate is a tell-tale sign that they are trusting their hopeful will protect them against any future criminal prosecution.

However, there is some hope that this will not happen and that the looting will be stopped. That’s if political sanity prevails and the delegates elect a candidate who will restore the dignity of the party and act decisively against graft, particularly state capture.

Eric Naki.

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